Lafayette Brewing Co.

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The finished wood atmosphere flowing through this spacious restaurant/brewery really ended up being the most impressive part of our visit. There's a nice & inviting feeling about this place.

The quality of both their food and beer, however, were just a tad of a letdown. I can't say anything too harsh or negative because I did overall enjoy the Eighty-Five IPA that I drank, and the Fish & Chips were adequate, but I was expecting more.

The waiters that interacted with us during our visit were very friendly and helpful.

The selection of beers wasn't anything special, and there was simply no offering for lovers of higher ABV beers.

This is a casual, laid back brew pub, with no pretense or airs. All are welcome, all feel welcome. There is a large bar area with good seating and wide open views of the bar and the large screen TVs. The restaurant seating is spacious and can accommodate parties from 2 to 50. There is a good view of the brewing kettles and collegiate/olde tyme decor on the walls.

The food is simply prepared but excellent in both quality and value. Wednesdays are typically discount pint night, and nightly specials keep most menu items under $10. There is a good selection of food to choose from, from typical Irish pub fare to more cross-cultural items. The kitchen usually has fresh fish specials, as well as creative meals only available once a week.

You simply must have the onion rings. The largest, best battered rings I have ever personally witnessed. One basket will feed two easily, three comfortably, four if two are dieting. At last glance, the menu item was $4.50.

The fish and chips are equally impressive. Shepherd's Pie is well done, as well as the buffalo burgers, wraps, and soups.

Lafayette Brewing Company is a cavernous place broken up by a mock wall that separates the bar from the general dining area. Food was decent but nothing unusual or outstanding. Mostly American-style food.Definitely cheerful and very good service from Kait. Biggest disappointment was the second floor where a band or DJ was playing - the bass music was so loud that you could barely hear the piped in music in the bar area. Very distracting. Only two beers available in bombers at the time I was there.

Stopped in at the LBC for lunch with my wife and son right after noon on a Sunday. One of my son's professors talks up the fish and chips so we thought we would give them a try. The dining area was wide open when we arrived but began to fill as we were nearing the end of our lunch.

They were playing Led Zepplin I when we arrived and Bruce Cockburn's Stealing Fire when we left. Gotta love some classic rock with lunch!

I was impressed with our waiter's understanding of the available beers on tap. It was obvious he had an understanding of hops and malts.

We thoroughly enjoyed the fish and chips with waffle fries and cole slaw. I also enjoyed a pint of their Scotish Ale.

Hadn't been in for at least 6 months. Stopped by and enjoyed the new Cascadian Christmas Ale and the Battleground Double IPA. Both excellent and a full notch up on the professionalism meter and my taste-satisfaction than my disappointed memories. Shared bar-b-que wings and pub-cheese snacks -- again, both were well executed, delivered hot, tasty, and generally good, respectable offerings. I will return and try some of the bar-b-que offerings, which are new on the menu (See above: I hadn't been in a while).

Some insider advice: There are a lot of servers, some of whom know nothing of beer. LBC is a firt job for lots of local teens/21yo, so I forgive less knowledgeable staff. Also, it's a huge space and when crowded, tables can get lost. Speak up. Go to the bar for beer questions: most of the bartenders are knowledgeable. And the Brew Crew at the upstairs bar on Thursday evenings are a fun group to hang around with. And the pizza upstairs is quite good, and there's a full bar.

I'm especially looking forward to the upcoming Harrison American Pale Ale, with all Michigan-grown hops. LBC had been lagging in its experimentation: this is a happy sign of return to creativity. The whole place was clean, the staff better trained than I remember, and everything was just better than I remember: closer to what I have always expected of them. Yay!

I've been a fairly disappointed irregular LBC customer over the last few years. I thought the brewery and restaurant had really declined over the last year and hadn't been in for months. But I was really pleasantly surprised that the food was a full notch better than I remember and their beers are growing more adventurous and up-to-date. More American hops may change the character of the English style malty brews on offer, but the Brits themselves have been more adventurous. Anyway, give LBC a try and let me know if you agree.

My wife and I hit Lafayette Brewing year or two when we head down for an annual football game at the alma mater. LBC is easy to find in the downtown area, and generally easier to park across the street or farther down on side streets. When we've been there, the place is generally packed in the post football game hubbub and seems to enjoy a good reputation locally. Generally, there's one new beer on tap to try, and the rest stay pretty standard through the year. All of the beers are good to very good, but nothing to really test the beer limits of many geeks. Nice if you're in town, but I wouldn't go too far out of the way for it. We would've skipped it this trip, but Chumley's down the street is a bar only, and our freshmen Boilermaker niece wasn't allowed in, so we headed down to the more family friendly LBC.

Go to beer for the place is the Black Angus Oatmeal Stout, which I like drinking, in part, for the irony that I'm a vegetarian. Of which, the food choices are bad for veggies--two entrees, a salad and a couple of appetizers. No food this trip because of the earlier pizza run to Arnie's, but have eaten at LBC before and not been disappointed. New beer for this trip was an Aussie Red Ale called Bushmen's Bitter. Not bad. Hoppier than I expected, and I assume with Australian hops because of the extreme fruitiness of the nose, but the amber ale was very light and almost watery. Great transition beer since nothing was 'scary' except the hop forward character of the beer.

Good stop, nice place, sure bet if you're visiting Purdue. And, unlike the bar down the street--LBC is smoke free; evidently, not a given in Indiana.

Went here for dinner on a Friday night. Food selection was ok, a lot in the line of what I like to call traditional Indiana food. Burgers, chicken, BBQ pork, and the usual line up of salads and sandwiches. Fish and chips and some more pub-type food was there too.

Beer selection wasn't huge, but the quality of my brew was good. I only had a pint of their Black Angus Oatmeal Stout. Pretty darn good.

Beer prices were ok, but the food prices were pretty good. Growler $4, fill $9, with specials on different days of the week for fills also. They offer a 1-liter growler also, which I had never seen before.

Overall, I'm going back and recommending this to friends. It's a good place to just go and relax without needing to get dressed up, but still can count as a nice meal too.

I started going to Lafayette Brewing Co before we started home brewing and before we started our appreciation for craft beer.

Through the years we've changed in our food tastes (from fish and chips to their lighter dinner salads/entrees) and our beer tastes (from "grab us something" to "Any cask conditioned beers today?"). We've watched the kitchen staff change, and the people working on brewing their beer change.

I've brought the kitchen staff loads of candy on Halloween. I've bonded with waitstaff about things as diverse as online games, big weird dogs and dealing with other customers. I've seen the same core waitstaff there for years, which is exceptional in such a fluid industry.

So, where I'm going with this is that, I can't be neutral about LBC. Though our experiences and memories associated with a place always color our reviews, I'm REALLY not neutral in this case.

The beer is good to very good - I prefer maltier beers generally and theirs don't disappoint. The opening of People's Brewing Company in town really upped their beer selections, I think they're branching out and their recent beers (Oatis Brown, the Bumpyface agave beer) have been excellent.

The food perception depends on what you like and how you like to eat. I avoid a lot of wheat, and fat/fried things - so there's not always a lot here for me. That being said, I always find something that I want, and always enjoy it muchly. =) Their smoked meats are exceptionally good, as are almost all of their soups. Two things that are so easy to mess up.

On Thursdays they sometimes have their upstairs open and have their pizza. Their pizza is *quite* good. If you happen to arrive when there is a show upstairs, generally it's an interesting band that offers something different. Go see them. =)

If you are looking for good, and very well respected beers along with good food and some interesting conversation, head to Lafayette Brewing Company.

Been here a few times. First beer I had there was the Prophet's Rock Pale Ale. I really enjoyed. Also had the Tippecanoe Common Ale and the Eighty-Five. Really enjoyed all of them. I love going to this place because they are one of just a couple places in central Indiana where I can get my favorite appetizer, scotch eggs. I usually get those and the fish and chips and am never disappointed. Never heard a complaint about the food. Its a great place to hang out with friends and chat with a good brew. Definately recommend.

The atmosphere varies depending on the night. Some nights they have live shows upstairs and if you happen to be there before the show you are treated to the wonderful melody of sound checks. If it wasn't for that it would probably have been more enjoyable.

The food is decent, better than most places you would find in Lafayette, IN. I had the jerked chicken sandwich which was tasty and my girlfriend had the blue cheese bison burger. Her burger was more so a blue cheese burger than a bison burger.

The service is not the best. The waitress we had honestly was not that knowledgeable about what they served. My girlfriend asked her about how the oatmeal stout was and her answer was "its a dark beer." Thanks.

Their selection was about 6 beers, none of which are really all that outstanding.

It was not that expensive, but for Lafayette, IN it was a little pricy. In my 4 years at Purdue I only went there once.

Stopped in here as a middle point in picking up my son from a weekend with the grandparents.

The atmosphere is a hit and a miss at the same time. The carpeting is god awful and tables and chairs are pizzeria worthy. I enjoyed the feel of the bar area with its wood grain and old-style taps.

The beers left me neither underwhelmed or excited. We had Oatmeal Stout (decent), Common Ale (OK), Eighty-Five (Good), Bitter (Good), and Scottish Ale (OK). All beers seemed undercarbonated and watery. There were some genuinely good aspects to each of them, but there were lots of critical misfirings keeping them from making me want to return.

Our server was knowledgeable enough and very attentive, and the bartender seemed like he knew what he was talking about (while seemingly disinterested in making conversation). I spoke with one of the brewers and he gave me a good rundown of the specs and ins and outs of their process. Service ended up being the highlight.

Better drink their beers, there ain't much else, and the food was fairly average. We had burgers and fish and chips which were a notch above average, and wings and french onion soup which were pretty meh. Their onion rings are amazing. Hands down, some of the best I've ever had.

Prices were right and appetizers were two-for-one, but I get this nagging feeling I won't be craving their beer anytime soon.

I stopped in here for some dinner and drinks. It was a Friday night, but Spring Break had just started so the place was half-full (I assume that's why it was half-full). Six of us went up to the bar, empty save one other person, and waited five minutes for the bartender to ask up what we wanted. We ordered beers and found a table hoping for better service from the server. The server was excellent. That is what saved the "service" rating. She was very familiar with the beers and menu and gave good recommendations.
Between the six of us we ordered the stout, common ale, and porter. Unanimously we all thought the beers did not taste that great. Odd flavors in the porter (though it was served in a snifter) and the stout and common ale tasted watered down and weak.
The food was okay. I had Barvarian Nuggets. Unique and tasty. My friends that had the burgers said they were average.
Prices were normal for the area. The atmosphere was promising but lacked the customers at the time.
I honesty hope to never find myself in West Lafayette again but if I am I'll find somewhere else to get dinner and drinks.

I stopped by the LBC on a Colts Game Sunday for lunch and was pleased to find the place pretty quiet so I grabbed a seat at the fair sized copper topped bar. Being a bit off my usual beer sampling game for lack of my usual compardre I failed to do a sample flight before jumping into lunch, but was quite pleased with the bartender's suggestion of the "Eighty-Five" - so named for it's tasty 85 IBUs. The fish and chips platter (the meal that I usually fall back on when comparing pub grub) was excellent and substantial.

The LBC was a very pleasant surprise with a comfortable laid back atmosphere. If the LBC had been around while I was at Purdue I could have skipped a few trips to the campus meat market bars.

My only complaint is in the selection catagory. I am a strong advocate of drinking the house brews, but for a place to become a favorite for me it needs to have some depth. I love to walk into a brewpub and see a strong selection of "guest beers." It is a sign that the proprietor appreciates good beer and even better, thinks that their product can stand up to a little competition and it usually does.

I drive by Lafayette, IN on the way form Cincinnati to Chicago and finally worked out a trip were I could stay the night in Lafayette and enjoy Lafayette Brewing.

A brewpub located in a historic building in a historic downtown city center should equal more than this. I was a bit let down with the run down nature of the interior. I guess just a matter of expectations and I prefer this over something in a suburban strip mall.

My visit was around 9:30 pm on a Wednesday. LBC was the heartbeat of downtown Lafayette on this night. Not much else around.

The beer list was uninspiring. I struggled between the wit and the pale and went with the pale. Turned out to be pedestrian with a malt profile that made it hard to distinguish hop character.

I ordered the BLT which was good. The service was also attentive and the floor manager was the hardest working guy in town.

A good place that's worth a visit and worth supporting local, independent brewers.

I've stopped here a few times on the way to DLD. I've enjoyed myself each time but we'll probably be looking for someplace else next time. It'd be a great local place, especially for a casaul lunch or dinner, but if you're just passing through, once you've been there then you've been there... if that makes sense. The atmosphere is nice. Lots of wood and a big bar. They only serve their own beers, which financially makes sense for them, but maybe a couple Indy locals would be nice. They keep 8 or so beers on tap and always a cask. Their 85 is pretty decent and I've had a couple others that were good. Nothing really great, though. Service has always been good and knowledgeable. The food is pretty good, but again, nothing great. I did like the huge pile of fish and chips I had last time. Prices are fine.

The LBC is a great place to eat. It has great food and is a very open building with view of the brewing equipment from every seat. The bar is also very cozy. However, as a snob, I rarely care about the quality of food and atmosphere even close to the amount I focus on the brew. And this is where the LBC loses my interest. The beers are ok, mostly watery and light with little if any complexity. Also, they should check their draft lines or the sanitization of their brew equipment because every beer has a slight smokey flavor. Actually its not very slight, its like drinking a Rauchbeir. On a positive note their Eighty-Five APA is actually pretty good.

If you haven't read my review of the Black Sparrow (which you probably haven't, since it's not up yet), you'd know about my ambivalence towards boozeries that make me in any way self-conscious. Even if they make me positively self-conscious, like "hey I sure am a swell kinda guy," that still involves comparing myself to others, judging my worth as a human being against other people. That makes me feel dirty. And it can be very easily turned around, too. Especially in a place as baldly image conscious as the Sparrow. Right now I might be okay, but what if looking like a libertarian or having a rat tail becomes the next big thing and I'm left behind? What then, huh? So... so many worries. Enough to drive a man to booze.

Usually I prefer a proud lack of metacognizance and all the complications it entails. A place that genuinely does not give a fuck about it's image. And I don't mean they meticulously mess up their hair in a certain way to exude a sense of not caring, or that they're so self-certain and proud of these days of wine and daterape that they never think to care. I'm talking about a place that's maybe been a little insecure in the past but whatever, man. You get over that kind of stuff. Just come on in and drink.

The vibe is wonderful. It's reminiscent of Town Hall in Minneapolis, it's so happily laid back. They don't bounce up and down and give you a hug when you come in, but come on you know you're better than that. Places that treat you like that are welcoming in the same way that strippers are into you. This place is more like a cute, cool girl you sometimes hang out with. She might not flirt with you at first but she's always nice and, well, if she ever *does* seem interested you'll know it's genuine.

The beer is rock solid. Nothing's blown me away but sometimes not getting blown is just...that's a horrible metaphor. I do wish something here was exceptional. But, really, I've had nearly everything on tap and not a one of them has had a single off node and that's rare for a brewpub. British styles are subdued.

Service is friendly and prompt. The food is maybe a little above average for a brewpub. Happy to say they have a full vegetarian section.

I'm a Purdue graduate. Whenever I visit, I come to LBC for their Piper's Pride Scotch Ale with a side of Scotch Eggs. The beers are terrific. I recommend getting a beer sampler before you commit to a pint.

This place is near and dear to my heart especially when I reminisce of the times I came here for Dollar Pint Night with my college friends. It used to be Wednesday nights; I'm not sure if they still run the promotion.

To me, LBC is a piece of PUrdue/Lafayette history on the same level as Harry's Chocolate Shop.

I only wish I could buy a fresh growler of LBC beer where I live in Florida.

I was really looking forward to stepping into this place and Chumley's as they were the only bars that seemed to be worth visiting in the area after speaking to some students from Purdue. After walking into several places, LBC and Chumley's were the only worth while stops that we visited.

As we were walking in, we did not feel very welcomed as the staff seemed to be irritated that we had such a large group. Being that I was looking forward to this visit and being the driver for dinner earlier, I was probably the only one to not have several drinks before arriving. That being said, they refused to serve us until everyone sat, which was poor being that we basically had a separate room and were not bothering anyone. The reason was that they wanted assigned seats that they could keep everyones tab straight because they assumed most of the group was going to be bad at splitting the bill. We caused much confusion as we were basically here for conversation and beer, so we constantly were changing seats around the table.

There beer was good, although I feel that they probably were hit hard by the hops shortage, as most of the beers tasted like they has very similar American hops. There sampler allowed many of us to get a sample of most of there beers, which then allowed us to have a few pints of our favorites.

For food, pretty much all I had was fries with cheese and bacon (no it's not on the menu, but they made them) They actually melted real cheese on them, and they came out very tastey as a snack with my beers.

Aside from the staff seeming a little upset with the large group and not hidding that very well, I would have to say this would be a place that is definately worth visiting if in town. I would recommend not taking a group larger than 6-8 (we had about 12-15 on a weeknight), to avoid the staff from feeling overwelmed and grumpy. The food seems like this would be a great place to have dinner with some friends. Goto LBC for dinner and goto Chumley's for socializing after dinner.

Me and a pal stopped in here Friday, the day before Dark Lord Day, to have lunch and buy a few growlers for the tasting tables.

There are a few seating areas, the one to the right has a big screen TV so we sat at the bar in that area. The length of the bar top is covered with a layer of hand-tooled copper, very classy.

The menu is printed on newsprint. The brewmaster's special, a dry irish stout I think, was tempting, but I was there to check out the Tippecanoe and the Eighty-Five. I ordered a Tip and a pulled pork sandwich with kettle chips.

It was a slow Friday mid-afternoon, less than ten people in there, so the barkeep was more available than he might otherwise be during the legit lunch period. No matter, we chatted a bit, he was a good guy. I asked for a sample of 85 (so named for it's IBU rating) and promptly received one. I also received a one dollar and change addition to the bill for the request. I imagine Indiana law states no free samples 'cause Rock Bottom in Cincinnati pours 'em for free. Heckuva good sample though.

I saw the brewmaster come out from behind the bar, I recognized him from the web site and shoulda said something but didn't. Next time I'll speak up and let the guy know he brews some kick ass brews.

The food arrived promptly, and was devoured in haste, it was good eats. Though I would have loved to stay and sample a few more pints worth of brew, we had to be on the road in good shape, so we got Tippecanoe and Oatmeal Stout growlers to go. An ideal place to divert to if you're heading to the Chicago area anywhere southeast of Indy. It's only a 15 minute diversion from the Cincinnati-Chicago route, very doable.

Went to Lafayette Brewing Co. while in Lafayette on business. This place is VERY GOOD. Our party of 5 arrived at about 10PM on a Wednesday evening. The place had a decent crowd for a weeknight. This is a wide open place... pretty big. It's in a historic building. PThe decor was lots of wood paneling and the had thousands of different beer coasters lining the walls. The parking lot was right across the street (VERY convenient!).

I had three different beers and an appetizer.... all were excellent and reasonably priced. Otheres in my party also enjoyed the food and beer selection and commented on how reasonable the prices were.

Service was top notch! Our waitress was Jenny. She was very attentive and personable. And she enlisted the help of others to make sure that our glasses were never empty and that we were never in need of anything.

Selection of beers was 10 available on tap and the food selection for 10PM on a weeknight was phenomenal.

I had the Scotch Eggs, a traditional Scottish pub appetizer (hard boiled eggs coated with ground pork sausage then breaded and deep fried and searved with a dipping sauce).... They were GREAT. My other colleagues had chicken wings and Reuben Sandwiches.... they all commented on how great they were.

Overall: a great place to go for some good beer and food...RECOMMENDED!

I have visited the LBC several times and typically make sure I remember my growler to have it refilled. Lots of space in the downstairs and upstairs, although I believe the upstairs only opens later in the day. The ceilings downstairs must be about 18'. Lots of space to sit - tables, bar.

The food is better than your typical pub fare. I get the reuben when I go in.

As for beer, I stick with '85'. It's called this because it has 85 IBUs, and I believe it lives up to its name. I have my growler filled with this when I go. Also the Tippecanoe Common is a good APA, and their East Side Bitter is good as well.

I've tried about every beer of theirs that I can get my hands on but I stick with the above three. I wish they would bottle.

Upstairs is nice as there are games to play and another bar. If there is live music, this is where it would be. Last I heard 'Drinking Liberally' holds their meetings here.